The Hartzell thing

[Adam]

Originally posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.
And now for something completely different.

Obviously, I must be the only official to officiate a D1 game and call all five fouls on his girl friend who was playing in the game.

MTD, Sr.

Does your wife know.

[Nevadaref]

Originally posted by Snaqwells

Does your wife know.

At least it wasn't a high school game!

[azbigdawg]

EX- Girlfriend?

[JoeT]

Originally posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.
And now for something completely different.

Obviously, I must be the only official to officiate a D1 game and call all five fouls on his girl friend who was playing in the game.

MTD, Sr.

I'dve done it, too. That way she'd be rested after the game!

[jmox]

By SEAN KEELER
REGISTER SPORTS COLUMNIST
March 6, 2005

S t. Louis, Mo. - A little nugget for the Hoosier conspiracy theorists out there: Rick Hartzell worked the Indiana-Michigan State game, too. And the Indiana-Purdue game before that.

Hoosiers 78, Spartans 74.

Hoosiers 79, Boilermakers 62.

Hmm. So much for ESPN analyst Doug Gottlieb's latest hunch from out in left field, that Hartzell, Northern Iowa's athletic director by day and Big Ten basketball official by night, was somehow trying to yank Indiana off the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Hmm. A major Hoosier upset. A major Hoosier rout. Hartzell must have fallen asleep at the wheel.

Or maybe he was just doing his job.

"I guess I got it right on those days," he sighed. Hartzell was in Memphis Saturday afternoon, on his way to officiate the Tigers' basketball game against Cincinnati, which tipped off 25 minutes after his Panthers met Southwest Missouri State in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Tournament.

"There's an old saying: 'The trouble with officials is they don't care which side wins.' That's the way it is with me. I'm just calling plays. That's it. Honest to God , that's it."

Hartzell has been a college basketball official in the Midwest for more than 20 years, working 17 NCAA Tournaments and at least 10 regional championships. He's extremely careful not to let his worlds overlap. One winter, when assigned a game between Creighton and Hawaii, he called Bluejays coach Dana Altman in advance to make sure it was OK. (Altman said yes.)

While he avoids the Valley, Hartzell is in the regular officials' rotation for the Big Ten, Big 12 and Conference USA, meaning he might have to make a call somewhere that might indirectly affect Iowa, Iowa State, Drake - or Northern Iowa.

Last Tuesday was one of those nights. Hartzell was working the Indiana-Wisconsin game in Madison, a game televised by ESPN. Late in the second half, the Hoosiers trailed by one when Badgers forward Mike Wilkinson appeared to foul an Indiana player. Hartzell was in position to make a call. He didn't. The Hoosiers wound up losing, 62-60, in a game that would have sweetened their NCAA Tournament dossier.

Two nights later, Hartzell was called out on national television. During halftime of ESPN2's Illinois-Purdue game, Gottlieb blasted Hartzell and the Big Ten for putting him in position to influence the fate of one of the Panthers' bubble brethren.

"I'm not saying there is a clear conflict of interest," Gottlieb said in transcripts released by the Big Ten, "but there is at least that appearance."

Gottlieb makes a fair point. I get at least three letters every year asking why Hartzell is on the floor for games that might affect his school or others in the state.

Some question, and rightly, how Hartzell can properly assess his winter sports programs when he's on the road all week. (He scheduled the Memphis-Cincinnati game a few weeks ago, figuring that the Panthers would be the third seed and play in the last night game Saturday.)

Badgers coach Bo Ryan was wrong to chide Gottlieb, the one-time Oklahoma State point guard, for ripping Wisconsin center Brian Butch earlier this year. It's Gottlieb's job. Observe. Adjudicate.

But the guy's clutching at straws here.

For one, it's more than a little two-faced to see a man who stole credit cards as a freshman at Notre Dame - a scandal that forced Gottlieb's transfer to Oklahoma State - pointing a finger at another individual's moral integrity.

For another, Hartzell says he was assigned to the Indiana-Wisconsin game during the first week in February, when the Hoosiers (and Panthers, for that matter) were a far cry from the NCAA's slippery fence.

League officials have quickly rallied to Hartzell's defense. The Big Ten released a statement late Friday afternoon condemning Gottlieb.

"It's absurd," Valley commissioner Doug Elgin sniffed. "Just because his basketball program (at Northern Iowa) has turned around, I don't think it's fair to draw that kind of conclusion."

Given a night or two of reflection, Gottlieb agreed. The analyst called Hartzell Friday to apologize.

"I think he wishes it didn't come out like it did," Hartzell said. "I think it takes a pretty stand-up guy to call you and that's what he did. We parted with no problems. I think it's old news."

So are the Panthers. Apparently, someone forgot to let Deke Thompson in on the conspiracy: The Southwest Missouri guard nailed a trey with 49 seconds left, a rainbow with one tick left on the shot clock, to key a 70-62 Bears victory.

"If we win a couple, we're in," Hartzell had said before the tip. "Win one, we'll be on the bubble. If we don't win any, we're out."

They're out. And here's another nugget: From 244 miles away, there wasn't a darn thing Hartzell could do about it.

[johnSandlin]

Most of the time TV commentators do not have the first clue as to what they are talking about. But, that is what they get paid to do, talk. Whether it makes complete sense or it is complete nonsense.

I know Hartzell, and I cannot imagine that Hartzell was out there or is out there right now purposely trying to put the "yank" on people from making the NCAA tournament.

Hartzell is NOT that kind of individual, or that kind of an official. His officiating resume speaks for itself, along with the resume's of the other Big Ten, Big 12, and Conference USA officials that he works with throughout the whole year.

I am sorry, but I cannot and will not believe that Hartzell is out there doing his job incorrectly. He is a good person and a GREAT official.

[tmp44]

Anyone see the ESPN Outside the Lines Episode last night that was about this siutation? I thought it was tastefully done--about as well as ESPN could do without attacking one of its own analysts. Also, I was glad that someone from the NCAA (the director of men's officials, although his name escapes me) was on as one of the panelists and finally gave an official's point of view on this thing. Kudos to this story..at least IMO. Thoughts anyone?

[johnSandlin]

I did not see Outside The Lines last night, but at least ESPN is stepping up and trying to make a wrong a right, and that Hank Nicholls from the NCAA (mens' coordinator of officials) was also asked to be on there as well.

[JRutledge]

I did see the Outside the Lines program last night. Hank Nichols was great. Especially when he talked about his personal relationships with schools and how that influenced the games he worked.

Peace